Why Is Michigan Stadium Called ‘The Big House’ Anyway?

For more than half a dozen Saturdays each fall, over 100,000 Michigan football faithful pack into 'The Big House.' Officially, the stadium is called Michigan Stadium, but the 'Big House' moniker is much more common. The reason for the nickname is fairly clear: Michigan Stadium is the largest stadium in terms of official capacity in the entire United States. Here's the complete history of how the stadium earned its nickname.

Construction began in 1926, and the project was completed just one year later in 1927. The original capacity of the stadium was 72,000, but then-athletic director Fielding Yost made sure that the infrastructure was in place for future expansion. Even at its inception, Yost's mind was set on a 100,000-plus capacity.

Originally, Yost petitioned for a capacity of 140,000, but was forced to settle for just about half of that lofty goal. It took just under 30 years for the capacity to officially breach six figures, as in 1956, the official capacity was listed as 101,001 following the addition of a press box.

The official capacity continued to rise over the next half a century, eventually peaking at 109,901 in 2010 before settling at its current 107,601 in 2015. The capacity is hardly a limiter, however, as home games regularly draw crowds of 110,000 or more. The official record was set at 115,109 during a matchup between the Wolverines and Notre Dame on Sept. 7, 2013.

Of the 25 most attended college football games, 24 of them were held at Michigan Stadium. The No. 1 position belongs to Bristol Motor Speedway, which hosted a game between Tennessee and Virginia Tech in 2016, drawing over 150,000 fans.

Generally, legendary college football broadcaster Keith Jackson is commonly credited with first calling Michigan Stadium 'The Big House.' Whether or not he was actually the first person to come up with the term is still debatable, but Jackson certainly popularized it.

There isn't one specific instance that people point to that signifies the beginning of the name, but it's generally agreed that sometime in the mid-1980s the moniker began to gain traction. The first written evidence of the nickname is thought to come from a quote included in an article published in the Detroit Free Press. Interestingly, the quote came from Notre Dame running back Allen Pinkett expressing his excitement to play in ‘The Big House.'

It may have started as an affectionate nickname, but as the years wore on, it became synonymous to Michigan Stadium. Nowadays, ‘The Big House' is more likely to be heard than ‘Michigan Stadium' when wandering the streets of Ann Arbor. Michigan has embraced the name, even putting ‘The Big House Effect' on the in-stadium video board when the opposing team is flagged for a false start.

From the outside, Michigan Stadium doesn't look like it would be the largest stadium in the Western Hemisphere. About three-quarters of the stadium is below ground level, so an unknowing passerby wouldn't have an idea of its true size.

Still, 'The Big House' is a staple of Ann Arbor. Entering the city driving north on Main Street, it's one of the first things that greets visitors, sitting on the corner of Main and Stadium. Ann Arbor is a city outside of the university, but its residents and students alike take an immense amount of pride in the university's culture and prestige, and Michigan Stadium is an integral part of that.

Beyond just football, 'The Big House' has hosted a number of other events. These include hockey matches between Michigan and Michigan State in 2010 and the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings in 2014. These two games remain the two most attended ice hockey games ever. In 2025, Michigan Stadium helped to break another record when country-music star Zach Bryan set the record for the most attended ticketed concert in US history, using the confines of 'The Big House' to perform in front of 112,408 fans.

With the games so well attended and the stadium being as famous as it is, people travel from all over the country and the world to watch a game in 'The Big House.' On Saturdays in which the Wolverines play a home game, Ann Arbor's downtown restaurants and shops are packed with visitors spending their post-game evenings in the city. A 2024 report from Destination Ann Arbor found that the 2024 Michigan football season generated an estimated $226.7 million of spending from visitors not living in Washtenaw County, significantly boosting the local economy.

The prestige of owning the largest stadium in the United States — along with the atmosphere and business that comes with it — is a great source of pride for the university community, and its iconic nickname plays a large role.